In Herricks we have a newsletter - called LinguaFranca - that goes out quarterly in students' report card mailings at the MS and HS. The newsletter contains articles written by students and teachers about special events, projects and lessons in the ESL and World Language Department. We just celebrated our 10th year of publication! Check out the archives on our department wikis:
The importance of having an excellent departmental website. Half Hollow Hills has an award-winning websiteto serve as a model. In Herricks we have a wikipage for the Middle and High School departments.
Try Twitterand Facebook! Many parents are on these social networks - they are a great way to stay connected! Tweet about special projects, guest speakers, fun activities, performances, ANYthing that helps to share your department's events.
Offer lectures for parents on a variety of topics relating to World Languages. The New York Council for the Humanities offers free lecturers.
Invite parents to come in to speak to students and the community about their experiences with language or culture.
Screen a language-related film for parents and the community. An excellent film is Speaking in Tongues, a documentary about the importance of language study.
FLACS has been looking into using this documentary and host a viewing. It is such a great advocacy tool. The only problem is, "How do we get them to come?".
I would love to talk about this at today's meeting!
For Foreign Language Week/Month, encourage students to teach mini-lessons in their home language.
ADD YOUR IDEAS!!!
A concerted effort to get real publicity / advocacy with 'Celebrity' advocacy. Let's look into all the bilingual celebrities, tv shows, etc. It's time to make connections with what sells.
FLACS has been looking into using this documentary and host a viewing. It is such a great advocacy tool. The only problem is, "How do we get them to come?".
I would love to talk about this at today's meeting!